We drove up to Vermont yesterday and picked five bushels of apples, then drove home. I'm glad we didn’t put it off any longer as the trees were nearly picked clean. I was especially happy for a tall husband as there was plenty of reaching to pick the remaining fruit and there was only one of those long-handled apple picker thingamajigs available. I was able to use that handy tool while Adam spent close to two hours on his toes with arms extended, making him taller by three feet. The man got his yoga in yesterday, that's for sure.

Crazy as it seems to drive all those miles and burn all that gas, I can now feed my family applesauce and pie all year long knowing the fruit was not covered in chemicals. Helping the trip seem less impractical, Emily’s workplace is located halfway between home and the Vermont border, with yesterday being a workday - Adam and I just kept driving for one hour after we dropped her off.

Today I’ll start processing our haul by making applesauce using Macs. I normally use Cortland for everything (sauce and pie filling), but the slim pickings had us filling three bushels with Macs for sauce and two bushels with Cortland for pie filling.

I’ve written before about making pie filling - I don’t can it, instead it gets frozen. So much fresher and easier that way. Basically, you mix up your favorite pie filling with sliced or diced apples, seasoning, sweetener, etc., then transfer the mixture to a gallon size freezer bag or you could use glass canning jars and freeze (I tend to run out of freezer space if I put everything in glass jars). If using freezer bags, lay the filled bags flat to freeze, then you can stack them and it’s a great space saver. When you’re ready to make a pie, take a bag out of the freezer about 30-45 minutes before you’re going to place it in your crust. It doesn’t need to thaw completely, just half way so it breaks up a little. Fill the pie, bake as usual, maybe adding an extra 5-10 minutes of cooking time.

Of course whole pies can be frozen, and I do like to have 2-3 whole pies in the freezer for last minute get togethers, but I try to have at least a dozen pie fillings waiting in the freezer for the year and I don’t have that many pie plates. There's also something nice about whipping up a fresh crust.

We couldn’t help but notice the emerging foliage along the southern Vermont hills, which of course had us thinking a trip to the kingdom next weekend is in order, they must be seeing close to peak colors at this point. So, we’ll pack Emily and Scout into the car and head north to play tourist in Adam's hometown. Maybe I'll bake an apple pie to take along for the ride.

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

• We are currently enjoying the best garden salads of the season. Unlike spring salads, fall salads have the benefit of tomatoes! I love radishes, peas, and the like... but tomatoes? Yes, please.

• I wish I could find half loaf bread pans. Is there such a thing? Emily is the only person who regularly eats sandwiches, and for one person to make it through a whole loaf - well, it starts to get a little stale toward the end. If I had a half loaf pan I could make a small loaf every 3 days. I'm not thinking of a mini-pan (like we use to make quick breads for gift giving at the holidays), but a large pan, half-size.

• Looking for a tasty, vegan creamed kale recipe? This has been a favorite for years. I skip the jalepeno. Any dark leafy green can be used. 

• Really good vanilla ice cream drizzled with maple syrup? Now that is perfection.

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

I look forward to visiting your kitchens!

When I was a kid my father never understood traveling south for summer vacation. "Why would somebody choose to go where it is hotter?" (You see where I get it from?) We didn't travel much, but my parents did try to take us away for some sort of a vacation once a year. Campgrounds were our hotels and we loved them. Often they had swimming pools, which is the very best part of a hotel in a kid's eyes anyway, and they had those great camp stores filled with all sorts stuff you never knew you needed. We'd often bring our bikes to cruise around and meet other kids to hang out with. They became instant friends. When you only have one week together, there is no getting to know you time... you must get right down to having fun and making memories. So, north we went - Maine, upstate New York, New Hampshire, Canada. Never Vermont though, probably too crunchy for my dad's taste.

I remember one summer vacation we never even left Connecticut. We went to a campground twenty minutes away and my dad still went to work every day. He was union and if he didn't work, he didn't get paid. Some years the family budget didn't allow for dad to take days off, but I guess my folks still wanted us to be able to swim in a pool, ride our bikes from campsite to campsite meeting new friends, and toss a few quarters into the pinball machine.

Those were pretty good times and I'm not really sure why I thought of them this morning. Perhaps it was the slant of light as sunrise made its way into our back field before coming through the trees behind our house. Changing light has a way of triggering memories. The sun is lower now, it lingers behind those trees along the stone wall for most of the day. Once the leaves fall, the house will be bathed in southern light for several hours each day.

We've been enjoying such crisp and wonderful weather lately, a perfect prelude to autumn. Then yesterday, out of nowhere, pea soup humidity and warmer temps. None of us wanted to be outside so we watched shows and movies about Alaska. One in particular was so amazing that I'd love to recommend it to you - Alone in the Wilderness. The story is of a man named Dick Proenneke, who came to Twin Lakes in the late 1960's at age 51 and built a cabin using only hand tools and materials mostly found in the wilderness. The cabin had no running water or electricity. Dick lived in his cabin for 30 years, keeping detailed journals along the way. Dick also took extensive film footage using his camera and tripod, leaving an incredible archive behind. While he filmed the majority of footage himself, his brother and other friends would help out when they visited. We couldn't help but feel this was truly a special kind of story. If you love Alaska, solitude, nature, cabin living, and the human experience, Alone in the Wilderness will definitely appeal to you.

To see a portion of this film, visit here.

Here is a great overview about Dick, his cabin, and his journals from the National Parks Service. Dick left his cabin in their care and it is preserved as a historic landmark.

Anyway, as disappointed as I was about the unexpected July-like weather yesterday, having the quiet time to knit and watch a story like this made it all worthwhile. As Dick says, "If the weather turns sour, make your job fit the day."

It turned out my job yesterday was not to preserve a batch of ketchup for our pantry, it was to knit my sweater and learn about a man that I can hardly believe I've gone 42 years without knowing of. What an amazing day it turned out to be.

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

I'm a little pressed for time this morning so I need to be brief... but, is it just me or is my kitchen looking *especially* harvest gold-y this week? Yowza. We tell my mom if she just waits a few more years to sell this house, 1970s time capsules will be all the rage. I hear avocado appliances are making a comeback!

We've reached the point in our gardening season where it is all hands on deck. It feels sort of like now or never out there... my dehydrator and canner are humming along.

I used to use my dishwasher to sterilize jars for canning, but we aren't using that these days. Instead, I wash everything with hot soapy water, then arrange on a baking sheet (pictured above) and place in a hot oven (350F) for the last 15 minutes that I'm prepping whatever it is we're canning. Works great!

Emily took that last photo yesterday afternoon while she was studying. Homemade cookies and raw milk with a view while she does "school." Not bad at all. (And I love the photo.)

It's the time of year when I start craving one of my very favorite soups, Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa. In case you are on the fence about adding olives to soup (I was at first, and I'm a huge olive fan). Go for it. They totally make it all come together!

Okay, gotta run. What's happening in your kitchen this week?

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

I look forward to visiting your kitchens!

Ben Hewitt is the author of Saved, The Town That Food Saved, Making Supper Safe, and most recently, Home Grown. He and his family live in a self-built, solar-powered house in Cabot, Vermont, and operate a forty-acre livestock, vegetable, and berry farm.

*   *   *   *   *

Once in a while a book comes along that is both a game changer and an affirmation. A game changer for those questioning whether the life they are living is an authentic expression of their values and ideals. An affirmation for those walking to the beat of their own drum who are sometimes made to feel different, or less than, as a result.

For me, Ben Hewitt’s just released book, Home Grown:  Adventures in Parenting off the Beaten Path, Unschooling, and Reconnecting with the Natural World, is both.

My life, by design, does not fit into what is considered mainstream. Yet everyday I feel pulled to walk even further down the path of “alternative” living. In other words, if I have it my way, life will be a veritable riot of homesteading utopia by the time I am 80, and this book just might be the catalyst to get me there. Move over Tao Te Ching and Bhagavad Gita... Home Grown is the new book in town. (I jest, sort of.) It's simply really nice to read about, and relate to, another family who is flourishing on their own unique path.

How does this relate to unschooling and parenting? Isn’t that what the book is about, after all? Sure, Home Grown is a siren song for unschooling, but more than that it is a creed for living. Unschooling just happens to be one of the many daily activities that fits into the Hewitts’ intentional, conscious lifestyle.

Before we go any further, allow me to quickly say that Ben does not particularly attach to the label “unschooling” as his chosen method for educating his children. Of all the commonly used terms used to describe learning outside the classroom, unschooling best describes what the Hewitts do and so they use it for the sake of conversation. But in truth, “immersion learning” is a more accurate description, according to Ben.

The chapters in Home Grown are organized in a way that alternates between stories from the farm, to tales of Ben’s youth, to his and Penny’s early days on the homestead,  to more obvious descriptions of how unschooling looks in their days. But mostly, the unschooling piece? It lingers in the background of each chapter and you find yourself wondering at times, “hmm... when is Ben going to get to the nitty gritty about their learning?” And then you turn the final page and realize, “ah, I see, it was right there in front of me all along.” Funny how it works that way.

Home Grown does not proselytize unschooling. The Hewitts are not subsistence farmers who unschool because they feel it is the only life families should lead, they do so because it is the life they should be leading. And so they work hard every day, through the years, to make a life that is both humble and full of riches. 

This book reads as a memoir and I love it for that. Home Grown will not overwhelm you with educational theories or peer reviewed studies reflecting various stages and styles of learning. Books like that are certainly helpful for those of us looking to educate our children outside the status quo, but Home Grown takes the idea further. Instead of focusing on “why” you should unschool (or homeschool), you will instead see “how” one family has chosen to integrate learning and living in a way that appears seamless and never-ending. (And by seamless, I do not mean “easy.” A misnomer often associated with unschooling.) 

A few weeks ago I attempted to catch you up on our homeschool world (part one and part two), which looks more formal and structured than the Hewitts’ method, but one that equally rests on freedom. Our style has been designed over the years mostly by my daughter and is one that suits her. My job has been to facilitate her vision. I also mentioned that this year and next (which will be her junior and senior years of high school, by definition) I’ve encouraged her to loosen the grip on our fairly structured days in order for life to present itself even more. Well, earlier this week Emily finished her homework for the two college classes she is taking by 11am, and I did not yet have the new Spanish and Math curriculum she requested in house. Feeling that life long tug creeping in - we should be doing something with the rest of our day - I decided to ignore it. Instead, I went about my work and she had a wide open day in front of her. Next thing I know, with zero prompting from me, she’s on the phone registering for Youth and Government and filling out the downloaded application to become a member of our local Historical Society. (Because why not send in a young lady, half a century their junior, to shake things up a bit at the ol' Historical Society? Also, because it is very likely that we have our own Leslie Knope over here.)

I was reminded, yet again, that learning happens. It can’t be avoided. We just need to give it the time and space it deserves.

Friends, make room on your shelf between Holt, Gatto, and Louv - Home Grown:  Adventures in Parenting off the Beaten Path, Unschooling, and Reconnecting with the Natural World is going to find its rightful place among them. No matter how you appoach school, if you're a parent you should read this book. Heck, if you're a human you should read this book.

This is so much more than a memoir about unschooling and homesteading. Home Grown is a tender collection of stories written by a father who is deeply in love with his family. Ben wants nothing more than for his wife and their sons to lead fulfilling, healthy, and connected lives. And isn't that something we can all relate to?

This is the part where I encourage you all to run out and buy a copy of Home Grown, ask your library to stock it, and give it to everyone you know for their birthday this year. I’d also like to invite you to toss your name in the hat for a chance to win one of three copies! (Because I jump started the shopping for you!)

I keep giveaways real simple around here, just leave a comment expressing interest and you will be entered. Winners will be announced early next week, no later than Wednesday.

Good luck and happy reading!

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

And the winners are...

1. Carrie @ Rhubarb Sky said:
Ha! I stopped reading your post mid-stream to go request my library buy a copy (they have a handy online form for that and I send in requests ALL the time. They know me there now!) and came back to finish and boom. . . you suggested just what I already had done! <3 Love that. xo

2. MzTallulah said:
I was impressed by Ben's articles on Taproot, and admire his deeply reflected life, the way he is led by principles and intentions that he will not compromise. It is not a simple choice in this day and age. I'd love to learn more about his journey and family life. Thank you for the giveaway, and to Ben for writing the book.

3. Sheila said:
As a Waldorf school principal I am particularly interested in Mr. Hewitt's thoughts on fostering a life-long love of learning with the intention of looking for ideas we can bring to our school and to our parents for use at home Thanks for the recommendation. Sheila

Thanks everyone for reading entering this giveaway, and to Ben for writing this wonderful book. Winners, check your inbox for a note from me! :)

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

September is one of the best months. The air begins to dry so we make popcorn without it become chewy within minutes of popping, from summertime humidity. The tea kettle boils and the oven cranks out pan after pan of roasted tomatoes. They get jarred up and placed in the freezer, making the perfect winter addition to risotto, frittata, soups and stews, bruschetta topping. The possibilities are endless. Even I, dedicated champion of winter, need moments that are filled with possibility come February. I made a pot of curry this week and per usual, I had the entire thing to myself. I'll never understand this, but I have at least learned to make smaller batches so I don't wind up enjoying it six meals in a row. It's a very quick and simple weeknight supper.

To make the curry:

Cook a few cups of diced potatoes separately until tender.

Saute a chopped onion in coconut oil, add four cloves of chopped garlic during the last minute, add one tablespoon red curry paste and smoosh it around with the back of your spoon (it's nice to add minced ginger here too). Next, add one can of full fat coconut milk, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 2-3 teaspoons of tamari and 2-3 teaspoons maple syrup. Stir. Season with sea salt and black pepper as needed, to taste. Stir in cooked potatoes and 1 (or more) cups frozen peas. Cover and cook over medium low heat until peas are warm and flavors blend, about 10 minutes. Serve over rice, quinoa, or roasted cauliflower.

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

We've been going up to Vermont quite a bit this summer. Some trips are longer than others, but each is filled with deep blue skies, green mountains, and quiet highways. The back roads are of course very quiet to travel on, but coming from Connecticut (where I am known to go 20 minutes out of my way just to avoid most of our highways), the barren Vermont highways are a dream.

This past weekend we found ourselves at a farm located far down a dirt road. They sold "sprightly" apple cider in half gallon mason jars at the farm store, which was beautiful and you paid for your goods on the honor system. It turns out this farm is where the movie The Cider House Rules was filmed. We could see why they chose it, such an idyllic location. (Pictured above.)

The leaves are starting to change and I do feel a few more trips north on the horizon. There are many farms up there that do not spray their apple orchards which is near impossible to find down here. Crossing two state lines for a few bushels of chemical free apples is reasonable in my mind, I've been known to do crazier things. Although the idea of sourcing safe food as a pilgrimage (which is how it feels to me) does sound a little unusual when you say it out loud.  Finding God in a pesticide-free apple orchard? Surely I'm not the only one.

Before the snow flies, I should really take you on a another stroll through our garden. Where has the time gone? It's been nearly two months since I last did a garden post and so much has come and gone that it is impossible to do a full recount. I can’t tell you how many times over the last three months I’ve looked back on my garden posts from last summer - checking on harvest times, pest arrivals, potato yields, and so much more. I already know that my lack of garden posts this summer will prove disappointing next year as I try to recall the story of this year’s garden. Hopefully I’ve learned what a loss not posting regular garden updates has been, and will make more time for it next summer.  

Better late than never though, let’s take a stroll through our early September garden. I’ll share a few notes regarding the highs and lows we’ve had along the way.

Garden at a glance, taken this morning. Many things are finished, hence the open areas - cucumbers were hit hard this year with mildew, so we pulled them early. Normally we are harvesting the last few cucumbers right up until early October. Much of the garden is still in morning shade here so it is difficult to see its entirety.

A few second plantings are coming along nicely. Beets, peas, and carrots are pictured above, hopefully we have enough time left for them to gain a bit more size. We should be in good shape as far as that goes, but if not, beet greens for everyone! There is a patch of rutabaga as well which I forgot to snap a picture of.

Our greatest gardening disappointment this year was our newly expanded section which turned out to have less light than we thought it would. I mean, we knew it would have less light than the front half, but more light than it turned out actually having. Many of our cool crops were planted back in April, in the already existing front half, before the new area was turned and ready for planting. So, due to space issues, we had to go ahead and plant most of our squash and beans in the new section and there was simply not enough light for these crops to flourish. Last night Adam sectioned off this are from the rest of the still producing garden, and now during the day our chickens can have themselves a party eating up the remains and fertilizing as they go.

Just look at those bare pole beans trellises. So sad.

Next year, all the greens, peas, radishes, etc. will go here.

Our second greatest disappointment was our squash. I'm not sure about where you live, but here in my garden, squash of any variety is the hardest thing to grow. Nothing compares to it when it comes to pests and disease issues. This year we had it all. It's hard to say if it was the lack of sunlight, mildew, or squash bugs that won out in the end, but ultimately our squash season ended early and abruptly. There was some harvest to be had, but not nearly what we hoped for.

Sometime in late July I realized our lack of sunlight in the new section was going to be a bigger issue than anticipated, and so a second planting of bush beans went in where some peas came out in the front half. We won't have the freezer full that we are accustomed to, but there will be a few gallons of beans at least. I picked a handful last night and we should be full steam ahead with these two rows for the next three weeks.

These sunflowers and zinnias deserve some kind of award for growing as they have in the shady half of the garden. True champs. The silver lining in this otherwise depressing piece of earth. (Okay, that was a little dramatic.)

Ah, back to the sunny front half. Swiss chard still looks happy, pepper plants are dripping with fruit, and fall lettuce is growing steadily.

Seriously, those peppers.

Peppers have such a  long season and a few weeks ago I was starting to feel nervous about their small size. But they've taken off and are beautiful! I'm not sure how many reds we'll get, but I'll take all the green peppers these plants will give us just the same. In total I think I planted about 24 pepper plants of different varieties and they have been healthy and strong.

The final assessment of the kale cage - it did a great job of keeping the cabbage moths away, giving us a full summer of dark leafy greens (something we have never been able to do before), but it may be a bit short. Not much, but we can tell the plants would like more height... I also planted a few too many in here. Ideas are brewing for next season. Still need a cage, just a little taller.

Fall spinach is coming in nicely. Can't wait!

Second planting of romaine is looking happy and near ready for picking.

Onions might be one of the coolest things to grow. Next year I will be growing many, many more. Love them.

Corn was kind of a bust this year. I'm not sure if it was the variety I chose or if I left it on the stalk a few days too long, but it was mealy. This was disappointing because it otherwise looked GREAT - no pests, no raccoons sneaking in to have a bite. Gorgeous yellow kernels... and then you took a bite and it was meh. Our loss has made for some very happy chickens though.

Also, our very small winter squash harvest.

We've gardened here for three summers, and in that time I've grown potatoes three different ways.

1. In the ground, 12 inches deep with a little compost sprinkled in the trench. Basically, plant deep and forget about it.

2. Plant a little less deep (6-9 inches? Can't remember.), hill and mulch through the season.

3. Tower method.

Well, just as the books will tell you, they all have their highs and lows. But I think the clear winner, providing the most bang for our buck, was method number one. I'm not sure if it was planting them extra deep, but we had far fewer bites taken out of them than planting a less deep followed by hilling. And while the tower method definitely yields potatoes with practically no, if any, bites taken out, they do produce less overall than planting directly in the earth.

No matter which method, we never seem to grow enough potatoes and I look forward to having the right amount of space someday to provide all that we need to get through the winter, and save some for seed.

While I have missed many, many weeks of journaling our garden progress, I have been taking a few pictures of the near daily harvest baskets here and there. It's been a year with many challenges for sure, but as with most things, there has been tremendous bounty and reason to be thankful as well.

There should be one or two garden posts to come before we close the season, it's certainly not over yet. Until then, I'll be trying to keep up with all the incoming tomatoes... knocking on every piece of wood in my path, hoping that late blight does not find us this year.

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

• The light is shifting in my kitchen, hanging lower in the sky and lingering in our south facing windows more than it has in recent months. Of course, we had quite a stretch of heat this week so my cooking (and photos) mostly took place in the evening. Today the air is cool and I just might turn on the over and bake myself a cake. Happy birthday to me.

• We have reached the point in summer where it is each family memeber's duty to consume a reasonably large amount of tomatoes each day. The small cherry tomatoes especially. So far, two out of three of us are pulling our weight. And really, there is no time to get terribly creative with recipes (nor is it necessary), for those tomatoes are growing by the moment.

• Looking at these kitchen photos and seeing all the gorgeous food that we've grown. I can't even believe it... peas, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, kale, herbs, peppers, and more! This feels so good, especially as this gardening year has felt like the least productive one since we've moved here.

I thought I'd share my salsa recipe with you all this week, just in case you are knee deep in tomatoes. It's been posted on Facebook since last summer, and this year Rachel commented that she won a blue ribbon with the recipe at her local fair! It's a good one. Enjoy!

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

Never one to turn down a trip to Vermont, we found ourselves piling into Adam’s truck this weekend and heading north. I’ve been traveling to the area where Adam grew up for over twenty years and it never fails that I have no idea how to get there once we’re off the highway, nor how to find my way back if needed. I sort of pride myself on having a decent sense of direction so I’d like to believe this has more to do with the wild location of his boyhood home than my inability to pay attention. Also to my defense, I’m pretty sure there are about 132 different routes one could take to get to the ridge where his family lives. Someday though, I’m going to really try and learn the ropes of traveling there. Especially by way of the route we took this weekend, that was a lovely approach for sure.

The Northeast Kingdom of Vermont is a place of beauty, one that Adam admittedly took for granted (or rather, just stopped noticing as being anything out of the ordinary) while growing up. It’s funny though, because directly across the street from his home (which sat on several hundred acres of family land) was over 8,000 acres of state forest. The wilderness was his playground and yet, because it was the everyday backdrop to his upbringing, he never quite realized how unique this was. Being from a generation that grew up without the internet, we all tended to live in our geographic bubbles more so than we do today. In his mind, it was perfectly normal for a boy to throw a few days worth of rations into a bag, grab his fishing pole, hop on his dirt bike, and head deep into the woods (with no cell phone) for a couple of nights under the stars.

At one point we were driving down one of the countless dirt roads and another truck approached. As we got closer, Adam lifted two fingers off the steering wheel as some sort of a waving gesture to the driver in the oncoming truck. The man reciprocated with a two finger wave of his own. For as long as Adam has been taking me to his old stomping grounds, I’ve observed this two-finger-drive-by-wave. Kind of peculiar, though not really worth inquiring about. Anyway, I’m currently reading Ben Hewitt’s soon to be released book, Home Grown (I’ll be writing much more about this book in a week or two... stay tuned!), and the following passage seemed to explain this decades old observation of mine:

“On haying days, Penny mixes thick milk shakes and we drink them on the ride home, the four of us crammed into the cab of our old Chevy. We idle down the gravel road from the hayfield; the loaded wagon pushes us, and I ride the brakes. Oncoming traffic gives us a wide berth, and wisely so. Everyone waves in that two-fingers-off-the-steering-wheel way rural Vermonters wave, as if afraid to commit to even this brief, passing relationship.”

It all makes so much sense now.

Today we are home, but Vermont is not quite done with us so we’re going to head back up at the end of the week. Because I’ll never turn down a chance to go north.